Only Time Could Tell, a sequel to Dancing Now
by phoebenpiper
Summary: After posting my story "Dancing Now", I got several requests for a sequel. As I'd felt that I'd already told Ryan's story through a series of flashbacks, I decided to turn it around and tell Chad's story in a series of flashforwards. CHAD/RYAN slash.


**Only Time Could Tell, a sequel to Dancing Now** --by phoebenpiper

Chad watched as Ryan shut his locker and started down the hallway. The tardy bell rang, but it barely registered in Chad's mind -- he was too busy trying to make sense of it all.

He'd taken the big step and come out to Troy. That was supposed to be the hard part. This was supposed to be easy, his reward for finally being honest.

But instead, Ryan was simply walking away, without any mention of them getting back together.

"And…us?" Chad prompted.

Ryan turned around, and Chad was surprised to see in his pale blue eyes, buried under the sadness, a resolute strength he'd never seen before.

"Sorry," Ryan said, shaking his head. "The summer's over. I'm dancing now."

And then he was gone, leaving Chad completely alone. As if Chad's confession had meant nothing. As if the summer had meant nothing.

"Mr. Danforth, shouldn't you be in class?"

Chad turned and stared blankly at his principal, not knowing what to say. He hadn't even noticed that the hallway was now empty -- he hadn't noticed ANYTHING except the fact that Ryan had walked away.

"Late on your first day," Mr. Matsui continued, shaking his head as he placed a firm hand on Chad's shoulder and led him down the hall. "This isn't a very auspicious start to your senior year."

'You can say that again,' Chad thought wryly.

---

_"I love you, man," Chad said, throwing a friendly arm around Troy's shoulders and pulling him close. "I mean it -- I love you. You know that, right?"_

_But Troy just shook his head at this heartfelt confession. "How much beer have you had?"_

_"How much?" Chad looked down at the half-full plastic cup in his hand, as if the answer might be written inside. But staring down at the amber liquid, he suddenly couldn't remember what he'd been doing. The beer, though, looked awfully good! So Chad raised the cup to his lips and drained it all, dribbling some down his chin. It wasn't until he was wiping his mouth with the back of his hand that he remembered Troy's question about how much he'd drunk._

_"Oh…uh…lots!" Chad said with conviction. He was absolutely certain he'd had lots of beer. And several shots. And he thought he remembered some Jell-o shooters at some point, but that had been several hours ago so his memory was a little hazy._

_Troy smiled, and Chad thought he might get lost in his friend's perfect blue eyes._

_"That's what I thought," Troy said. "I'm cutting you off." He reached over and grabbed the now-empty plastic cup from Chad's hand._

_"Hey!" Chad protested, desperately trying to grab it back. If he'd been more sober, he would've realized he could just get another cup -- in fact, there were cups lying all over the house. But that was exactly the problem -- he was FAR from sober. Which wasn't REALLY a problem because he was having a GREAT time!_

_And after the week he'd just had, he DESERVED to have a great time! Ryan's rejection had caught him completely off-guard, and he'd spent the entire week feeling sorry for himself._

_But he wasn't feeling ANYTHING at the moment, except maybe a little buzzed. He was simply here at this party, drinking beer and dancing to the music and hanging out with his friends. His BEST friend. The guy he loved._

_"You know, I love you, man," Chad said, wrapping his other arm around Troy and pulling him into a sloppy bear hug._

_"How are you getting home, Chad?" Troy asked as he slowly pushed his friend away._

_"Home? I'm not going home yet. This party's JUST GETTIN' STARTED!"_

_Chad turned expectantly out towards the room, hoping his party rallying cry would've livened things up a bit. Unfortunately, the number of party-goers had significantly dwindled when Chad wasn't looking._

_"Hey -- what happened to everybody?" Chad asked, confused by this sudden turn of events._

_"The party's over, Chad," Troy explained before calling into the other room. "Gabi. Let's go. We've gotta take Chad home."_

_"Okay. Let me grab my purse."_

_Upon hearing the girl call back, Chad smiled. "I'm glad you're dating Gabi, Troy," he told his friend. "I like Gabi. She's a sweet girl."_

_"That she is," Troy agreed as he started walking Chad towards the door._

_Chad began to stumble, but his fall was stopped by the girl in question._

_"Whoa there, Chad," Gabi said, helping set him back upright again. "Had a little to drink tonight?"_

_"Had a LOT to drink tonight," Chad explained helpfully._

_Gabi giggled. "Yeah, I can see that. Let's get you home, okay?"_

_As Chad stumbled again, the girl wrapped a steadying arm around his waist. "Careful."_

_"Careful? You know, Gabi," Chad said, putting an arm on her shoulders, "YOU'RE the one who needs to be careful."_

_Gabi smiled. "I do, huh?"_

_Chad nodded. "Troy here is a heartbreaker, and you need to be careful or else he'll break your heart, too. He broke Sharpay's heart, you know. And Zeke's, too. And mine, and Ryan's--"_

_"Ryan?" Gabi asked, looking past Chad to her boyfriend._

_Chad felt his best friend shrug, so he figured he better explain. "Actually, *I* broke Ryan's heart, but it was TROY'S fault 'cuz that's what he does -- he breaks hearts."_

_Gabriella still looked confused, and Troy responded quietly, "I'll tell you what I know later."_

_"No!" The last thing Chad wanted was more people knowing about him! He whipped his head around to face his best friend, making the room spin. He closed his eyes and stood still for a minute, waiting for the spinning to slow, before saying, "You're not gonna tell her about ME, are you? When I told you, you said you wouldn't tell." Chad had to concentrate to ensure his words didn't slur together. "That's OUR secret, Troy. Yours and mine, not Gabi's. You can't tell her."_

_Troy nodded. "I won't tell her anything, Chad. Let's just get you home."_

_Chad started to nod but then remembered that head movements made the room spin so he stopped. As Gabi and Troy began walking him again, he suddenly remembered the point he'd been trying to make. "Yeah, so Gabi, you gotta be careful, because Troy will break your heart."_

_As they slowly made their way past a bookshelf, Chad saw a nearly full plastic cup perched precariously on the edge. He picked it up and held it high, proclaiming to the room, "Let's drink a toast -- to Troy Bolton, Team Captain and Heartbreaker Extor…Extror…Exteror…." Chad couldn't seem to find the word he was looking for, but Troy wasn't patient enough to let him keep looking._

_"Let's GO, Chad," Troy said, grabbing the cup from Chad's hand._

_Chad automatically reached for it, splashing the contents onto Troy's shirt._

_"Great!" Troy snapped, setting the now-empty cup down and wiping at his wet t-shirt._

_"Here -- I'll get some paper towels," Gabi said, scurrying off._

_Without having Gabi and Troy to lean on for the moment, Chad suddenly realized how difficult it was for him to stand. The room started spinning again, and Chad put his hand out on the bookcase to steady himself. This, unfortunately, only made the ROOM stop spinning -- his head, however, continued to whirl._

_"Here, Troy," Gabi said, running up to hand Troy some paper towels._

_And that's when Chad barfed all over his best friend's girlfriend._

---

Walking in late to Ms. Darbus's homeroom meant that everyone turned to stare at him. Everyone, that is, except Ryan, who suddenly seemed to find the graffiti scrawled on his desk immensely fascinating. Chad felt like a fallen celebrity leaving a courthouse, with reporters all around and a caption under him reading: "Chad Danforth -- Gay and Jilted."

Naturally, his late arrival spurred Ms. Darbus into a long lecture about punctuality. Chad slid into his seat behind Troy, not hearing a word his teacher was saying. His mind was numb, unable to process the events of the morning.

Finally, the bell rang, and Chad mindlessly headed out of the classroom. As he started down the hall, Jason suddenly came running up to him.

"Dude, did you hear the big news?"

The words sent a chill down Chad's spine. "News?" he repeated tentatively, hoping Jason didn't respond, "The whole school knows you're gay."

"Yeah. About why Zeke and Sharpay broke up?"

Chad turned and stared dumbly at his friend -- surely he'd just heard him wrong. "Zeke and Sharpay broke up?"

"Dude, where have you been? It's all over school. But that's not the BIG news." Jason leaned in excitedly as he spilled, "Apparently Sharpay called out Troy's name! In the middle of sex or something! Can you believe it?"

A chill had gone down Chad's spine as Jason spoke. And unfortunately he had no problem believing the story.

"Poor Zeke, right?" Jason continued. "So I think a bunch of us are gonna take Zeke out after school to cheer him up. You in?"

Chad wasn't sure what to say because, for the moment, all his sympathies were with Sharpay.

---

_"So dude, are you just doing all this to get back at Sharpay?" Jason asked as he pulled off one of his sweaty socks._

_Zeke looked at his friend blankly. "Doing what?"_

_"Hanging out with Ryan all the time," Jason explained. "Are you just trying to rub it in Sharpay's face that she can't have you anymore?"_

_"Of course not," Zeke said, sounding genuinely surprised that anyone would even suggest it. "I've been hanging out with Ryan because he's a cool guy." Zeke tossed his discarded high tops across the locker room, where they landed with a crash inside his locker. "Yes! Two points!" Zeke cheered, sharing a high five with Chad before continuing, "Besides, Ryan and I have a lot in common."_

_A sudden uncomfortable silence descended over the previously boisterous locker room. Jason, who'd been in the process of stripping off his t-shirt, stopped with it halfway over his head and self-consciously lowered it back over his bare chest, and several of the other boys nervously pulled their towels in front of their already naked bodies._

_Chad was frozen in terror, but not for the same reason as his gymmates. He wasn't afraid that Zeke, like Ryan, might be gay -- he was afraid that Zeke might know his secret. It had never occurred to him before, but it made sense that Ryan would've told Zeke about Chad, since the circumstances of their break-ups had been so similar, and that the two boys would've bonded over it. It made Chad sick to his stomach to think that Zeke might know -- know he was gay, know what he and Ryan had done, know what name he'd cried out._

_And the fact that the other boys suddenly were staring warily at Zeke at the mere SUGGESTION that Zeke might be gay made Chad even more nauseous._

_Troy seemed to be the only one not bothered by Zeke's comment. On the contrary, he seemed bothered by everyone else._

_"Oh, grow up, people," Troy scolded, clearly annoyed, as he confidently strode completely naked past Zeke. "Zeke's not gay."_

_Chad heard an audible sigh of relief from the other boys as they all relaxed and returned to their undressing. Their reaction, however, only unnerved Chad more._

_Zeke, for once, seemed a little annoyed as well. "Ryan's about a lot more than just being gay, you know. For one thing, he could kick every one of your butts on the Wii."_

_"I'm sure he'd enjoy ANYTHING to do with our butts,," Chad heard someone near the showers snigger._

_Zeke simply ignored the comment and continued cheerfully, "Darby…I mean Mrs. Evans…let's me use her convection oven to bake in -- pastry dough BASKS in convection heat -- so Ryan and I kill time between batches playing on his Wii."_

_"Lemme guess," Jason said, "Wii baseball?"_

_Zeke nodded. "We play that sometimes, too. But mostly we box. He's AMAZING! Like Muhammed Ali -- he's always dancing around and then pounding the crap out of me. I don't think I've ever made it past the third round!"_

_Jason nodded, having lost interest in Zeke's story, and wandered off towards the showers with the other boys, leaving Chad and Zeke alone in the locker room stall. Chad wondered whether he should follow Jason or stay and hear more. Listening to Zeke talk, Chad felt overwhelmed with guilt. He now realized that, after all the time he'd spent with Ryan over the summer, he actually knew very little about his so-called "friend". He didn't even know Ryan OWNED a Wii, let alone excelled at it._

_Chad was completely aware that it was his own fault he knew so little. Truth be told, he hadn't really WANTED to get to know Ryan. After all, Chad knew Troy better than anyone, and that had only resulted in confusion and pain. So he'd kept Ryan at a safe distance, emotionally if not physically, all summer. No wonder Ryan had been able to simply walk away._

_But now Chad was realizing all he'd missed out on. Not just the Wii -- though that sounded like a blast -- but Ryan's friendship as well. He knew it was too late for that now, so he'd have to just experience it vicariously through Zeke._

_"So what else do you and Ryan…do?" Chad asked, remembering mid-question that Zeke probably knew what Chad's answer could've been to that question._

_But if Zeke knew anything, he didn't let on -- instead, he just seemed happy to have a chance to talk about his new friend. "Well, Ryan's been teaching me yoga."_

_When Chad made a face, Zeke continued, "Yeah I know, it sounds fruity and new-agey, but physically it's an awesome stretching workout -- I've never been so limber in my life."_

_Chad's mind wandered to memories of Ryan's limberness, causing his face to flush._

_Luckily, Zeke didn't seem to notice. "Unfortunately, Ryan and I haven't been able to get together as much since rehearsals for the fall play started and he began teaching again."_

_"Teaching?!" Chad might not know much about Ryan, but he did know that the blond boy was no Einstein._

_"Yeah, he's teaching the kindergarten classes at his dance studio again this year. And LOVING it, from the way he gushes about his kids."_

_Teaching DANCE -- that made much more sense! Once again, though, Chad felt melancholy that he had completely missed out on such an important part of Ryan's life._

_But before he could say anything, he felt a sharp snap on his buttocks and turned to see a wet Troy pulling back his towel to snap him again._

_"C'mon, you slow pokes," Troy teased as Chad jumped out of the way of his snap. "You guys gonna hang out here all night gabbin' or what?"_

_Zeke grabbed up his towel and joyfully snapped it at Troy as Chad tried to stay out of the way, simply grateful that he'd successfully avoided showering with Troy yet again._

---

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. The whole school was abuzz with the news about Sharpay and Zeke. Every rumor Chad heard was filled with different, often conflicting, scenarios as to the reason for their break-up, but they all had one detail in common -- Sharpay calling out Troy's name at an inopportune time. Every time Chad heard someone mention this fact, he felt like he was going to hurl, especially because it was usually followed by a slew of disparaging comments about the spoiled blonde girl.

Chad wanted to defend Sharpay, to speak up for her, to explain that she couldn't help being in love with someone else, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew that such a defense of Sharpay, by HIM of all people, might open up a can of worms that Chad preferred to keep well-sealed. So Chad stayed quiet and said nothing, even when he passed her in the hallway and recognized the same grief he was feeling lying behind her smeared mascara.

He merely stumbled like a zombie through his morning classes, successfully steering clear of Ryan…until 5th period history. Not only did he and Ryan arrive at the classroom door at the same time, leading to an awkward "You first" / "No, you first" exchange, but Mr. Green believed in alphabetical assigned seating, meaning Danforth found himself reluctantly sitting directly in front of Evans.

Being the first day, Mr. Green passed out his "Classroom Expectations", a syllabus, a reading list, AND a list of assignments. This meant that Chad was constantly turning around in his seat to pass back to Ryan yet another worthless sheet of paper. Chad did his best to avoid eye contact; he didn't want to see the hatred in Ryan's eyes, and he didn't want the blond boy to see the hopelessness in his.

As Chad turned around once more, this time to pass back a "bibliography format" sheet, he wondered if he and Ryan would ever be able to look at each other again.

---

_None of the guys would ever guess where Chad was spending his Friday night. Of course, they never would've guessed that Zeke would be spending his Friday night here, too, except that Zeke had been talking about it non-stop all week. Chad still noticed the way that some of the guys got nervous when Zeke talked about Ryan -- obviously the fact that Zeke was now dating a family friend of the Evanses who was, in fact, a girl was lost on them._

_Actually, his new girlfriend was supposed to have been Zeke's date for this evening, but she'd had to bail at the last moment, so Chad jumped at the chance to take her ticket. Not that spending his Friday night at a kids' dance recital was exactly his idea of a perfect time, but Chad had been wanting to reestablish some sort of friendship with Ryan, and this seemed like a good first step._

_The recital turned out to be great fun. Chad and Zeke thoroughly enjoyed themselves, laughing at the little girl who kept flashing her frilly panties at the audience and the little boy who did nothing but stand center stage with his finger up his nose. The two boys even joked about the little diva who, despite her brown frizzy hair and dark skin, was a total Sharpay clone, making sure she was always front and center and shoving any kids who got in her way._

_But when Ryan's kindergarten classes were on-stage, Chad paid no attention to the dancing kids because his eyes were glued to his friend crouching in the shadows near the curtains. As the little kids -- all girls, Chad noticed -- spun through their ballet routine and clickety-clacked through their tap, Ryan beamed at his charges, bopping his head in time with the music and encouraging the girls with a smile when they got lost in the routine._

_Part of what enthralled Chad so much was the realization that he'd never seen Ryan so happy, despite all the "fun" they'd had together last summer. Chad also realized that even HE hadn't been that happy when they'd been together. Despite all that Ryan had done for him, or, more accurately, "to" him, Chad's ecstasy had always been tainted with shame -- shame that he was gay, shame that he was in love with his best friend, shame that he was using Ryan._

_Chad wished he could just erase the summer and start over with Ryan. Because from everything Zeke said about him, and from what Chad was witnessing tonight, Ryan seemed like a cool guy. Exactly the type of guy Chad would like to get to know. REALLY know, not just in the Biblical sense. But Chad wasn't sure that was even possible now after the past summer they'd shared._

_When the recital was finally over, Zeke insisted that they go backstage to congratulate Ryan on his excellent teaching. But as they stood there, watching the kids collect their things and the parents collect their kids, Chad suddenly regretted coming along. After all, tonight was Ryan's night, and Chad didn't want to be the one to put a damper on it. So Chad quietly stuck to the shadows, watching the Evanses and trying not to be noticed._

_"Thanks, Mr. Ryan," several little girls said as they ran up and hugged their teacher's legs._

_"No, thank YOU," he said, patting each of them on the shoulder. As they released their grips on his legs, he crouched down so he could talk on their level. "You girls were fabulous tonight. Absolutely fabulous! And you're all gonna grow up to be stars, I just know it!"_

_"That's 'cuz you're the bestest teacher EVER, Mr. Ryan!" a small redhead enthused, throwing her arms around her crouching teacher's neck and knocking him off-balance. Ryan landed with a thud onto his butt with the little girl's arms still lovingly encircling him._

_"Graceful, Ryan," Sharpay mocked before turning to her mother and complaining, "'Bestest teacher ever'? There'll be no living with him after this!"_

_"Hush, Kitten," Mrs. Evans said, patting her daughter on the arm. "Let him have his moment."_

_Sharpay sighed and rolled her eyes, a movement that caused her to catch sight of Zeke standing near-by. Chad watched the conflict on her face as she quickly weighed her options: continue to let Ryan have the spotlight or sacrifice herself by bringing attention to her ex._

_She obviously decided on the latter because she put on a smile and said cheerily, "Oh, hey, Zeke. I didn't see you there."_

_"Oh, good evening, Zeke," Mrs. Evans gushed. "It's always so good to see you."_

_"You, too, Mrs. Ev--Darby," Zeke corrected with a smile at the shake of her head. Turning to face Sharpay, he greeted her as well before adding, "And of course I'm here -- I couldn't miss Ryan's big night."_

_"Oh, it wasn't MY big night," Ryan insisted, still rubbing his sore butt as he stood up, having extricated himself from the girl with the near-fatal hug. "It was THEIR night," he said, gesturing to his gaggle of girls still surrounding him wearing their leotards and tights. Leaning down to them, he suggested, "You girls best go find your parents now -- it's getting late."_

_"We love you, Mr. Ryan!" the girls all sang as they embraced his legs once again._

_"You, too, sweeties," he said, ruffling their hair. "See you next practice."_

_The girls ran off, and Ryan stood back up to his full height, which Chad realized seemed taller now that he was in such close proximity to all these little kids._

_"I'm glad you came, Zeke," Ryan said with a smile. "Did you have fun?"_

_"Oh, we had a blast," Zeke began but was interupted by one last little girl running up to give Ryan a goodbye hug._

_"Good night, Mr. Ryan," she mumbled, her face practically buried in Ryan's crotch. "You're my favorite teacher."_

_"Aw, thanks, Mindy," Ryan said, putting his hand on her shoulder to gently push her back. "Good night, honey."_

_As she ran off, Zeke teased, "Such a fan club!"_

_Ryan tried to act humble, but Chad could tell he was secretly eating it up. "Yeah, my groupies are all five years old -- and at a dangerous height!"_

_"Hey, don't knock it," Zeke said. "A fan club's a fan club."_

_"Speaking of," Sharpay said, turning to Zeke, "where's yours?"_

_"Shar!" Ryan scolded, whacking his sister on the shoulder._

_Chad wasn't really surprised at Sharpay's bitchy tone OR Ryan's scolding. However, he WAS shocked when Sharpay instantly changed her tone following her brother's warning._

_"I'm sorry, Zeke," Sharpay said, sounding truly chagrined. "I didn't mean to sound so--"_

_"Bitchy?" Ryan helpfully finished for her._

_As Sharpay glared at her brother, Mrs. Evans put a hand on his shoulder, gently scolding, "Language, Ducky. There are still kids about."_

_Now it was Ryan's turn to look chagrined as his sister continued._

_"ANYWAY…I really am happy for you, Zeke. For dating Lea, I mean. She's a sweet girl. And she certainly likes YOU well enough," she added with a roll of her eyes, making it clear she'd heard more than her share from her friend on this topic._

_Zeke smiled at his ex, seemingly oblivious to any tension still in the air. "Thanks, Sharpay."_

_"So where IS Lea?" Ryan asked, glancing around. Chad took a step further back into the shadows, not wanting Ryan to be the one to discover him._

_"Oh, Lea had a family thing at the last moment, so Chad tagged along instead. Right, Chad?" Zeke turned to where he thought his friend was standing and was surprised to find him not there. "Chad?" Zeke looked around, finally spotting Chad next to the large black stage curtain. "There you are. What'cha doin' hiding back there, dude?"_

_Chad blushed -- he hadn't wanted to draw attention to himself, but now Zeke had done just that, making him feel even more foolish. Knowing there was nothing else to do, Chad reluctantly stepped forward, hoping the stage had a trap door that could simply swallow him up._

_Unfortunately, no trap door appeared, but luckily Ryan didn't seem too upset to see him. In fact, the blond boy smiled. "Oh, hey, Chad. I'm glad you came."_

_"Yeah, it was fun," Chad replied, feeling slightly more at ease now that he knew Ryan was okay with him being here._

_"It's so good to see you, Chad," Mrs. Evans said, walking over and shaking his hand. "It's been ages, it seems. I don't think I've seen you since this summer."_

_So much for feeling at ease. An awkward silence filled the stage. It seemed that everyone except Mrs. Evans knew exactly why Chad hadn't been around since the summer, but no one knew quite what to say._

_No one, that is, except Sharpay, who blurted out, "You didn't happen to bring any cookies with you, did you, Zeke? The refreshments at intermission were hideous -- obviously store-bought!"_

_Chad breathed a sigh of relief at this sudden change of subject. Could Sharpay have done it on purpose? Chad wouldn't have thought so, but the quick look she flashed him made it clear that she had._

_Zeke chuckled. "As a matter of fact…," he said, swinging his backpack around to the front and unzipping it, "I made up a batch of Ryan's favorite just for tonight."_

_As he pulled the baggie of snickerdoodles out of his backpack, Sharpay eagerly snatched it out of Zeke's hand._

_"Kitten, those are for your brother," Mrs. Evans scolded good-naturedly._

_"Oh, that's okay, Mrs. Evans," Zeke said, pulling another baggie out and handing it to Ryan. "One of the bags was for Sharpay anyway."_

_Sharpay smiled, obviously thrilled that he'd thought of her. "Thanks, Zeke."_

_Zeke shrugged. "I remembered how much you like snickerdoodles, too, so I couldn't just show up without any for you."_

_Obviously Sharpay realized that he easily could've done just that, and she seemed genuinely touched by his gesture._

_Chad was still touched by hers, so he caught her eye and mouthed the word "Thanks"._

_She shrugged, as if it'd meant nothing. But the look in her eyes made Chad realize it had. It was clear she knew all about the shameful bond they shared and had intentionally tried to ease his discomfort._

_And she wasn't quite finished yet._

_"So, Zeke, Lea tells me that you've been working on a new flour-less cake recipe." Sharpay took Zeke by the arm and gently but deliberately started leading him away. "Mother, surely he can use our oven for that if he needs to, right?"_

_"Of course -- any time." Having been brought into the conversation, Mrs. Evans followed them off, leaving Chad and Ryan alone._

_And while Chad was grateful for Sharpay's effort, now that the time had come, he wasn't really sure what to say._

_Except for the obvious._

_"I'm sorry."_

_Ryan nodded. "I know."_

_Chad shook his head, blurting out, "Not just THAT. I'm sorry about…ALL of it. All last summer. What I did to you. What I made you do to me. But especially that I never really took the chance to become your friend. Because you seem like a really cool guy, and…and I'm sorry that I missed out on all that." Finishing his outburst, he stared down at his feet, unable to meet Ryan's eyes. He couldn't believe he'd finally gotten the chance to say what he'd been bottling up inside for months. He felt relieved to have it off his chest, as if it didn't even matter how Ryan responded._

_But in reality it DID matter, and he looked up at the blond boy expectantly, hoping for the best but fearing for the worst._

_What he got was somewhere in the middle._

_"You and I… last summer…" Ryan trailed off, pausing a moment to collect his thoughts before starting over. "I deserve better," he stated with conviction. "I deserve to be liked for who I am, not because of what I do."_

_Chad was overcome with guilt as he admitted to himself that he HAD only liked Ryan because the blond boy would do what he knew Troy never would._

_"But," Ryan continued, "I guess there's no such thing as too many friends."_

_Chad smiled and looked up. "There isn't?" he asked hopefully._

_Ryan smiled back. "No, thank goodness. And I could certainly use a few more friends who are willing to sit through PAINFULLY long dance recitals -- especially ones I'm not even in!"_

_Chad laughed. "It wasn't THAT bad." Ryan raised a doubtful eyebrow and Chad corrected, "Okay, it WAS pretty long. But the kids were funny."_

_"Did you see that boy with his finger up his nose?" When Chad laughed and nodded, Ryan joked, "NO stage presence whatsoever! Clearly he didn't have ME as a teacher!"_

_"Maybe it was part of the choreography," Chad jokingly suggested, and he was thrilled when Ryan laughed. Chad knew it wasn't much, but it was certainly a good start._

---

After school, despite his best efforts to get out of it, Chad found himself with the guys taking Zeke out. And being teenage boys, they figured the best way to cheer up someone involved food -- and lots of it. They also figured they should to go on and on about what a heinous bitch Sharpay had turned out to be. Unfortunately, this meant that every word out of their mouths was like another twist of the knife to Chad.

Luckily, it wasn't what Zeke wanted to hear either, so he finally spoke up.

"Guys, listen. Sharpay's not a bad person. She's not!" he insisted as several of the guys started to protest. "She can't help being in love with Troy any more than I can help being in love with her." Zeke sighed. "And I AM still in love with her. But I know I shouldn't keep myself in a bad situation, and I know that staying with her is just that. So leaving Sharpay is the best thing for me right now," he smiled at his friends, "but it's not like I HATE her or anything."

"Then you're a better man than me, bro," Jason said, patting Zeke on the back.

"Zeke's right, guys," Troy said in his best team captain voice. "We didn't bring him here just to bad-mouth Sharpay."

"We didn't?" Jason looked genuinely confused.

Troy whacked Jason on the head as he explained, "No, we brought him here to cheer him up. So what d'ya guys say we order one of the giant sundaes to split?"

Zeke grinned. "That could definitely raise my spirits. And did you know that they actually bake their own cookie straws here? I'm gonna ask for the recipe and try baking them…."

Zeke continued, but Chad was no longer really listening. Hearing Zeke talk about Sharpay had made Chad realize that maybe everything wasn't quite as hopeless for him and Ryan. Maybe there was still a chance of getting back together…or at the very least becoming friends.

Not that it seemed very likely right now.

But only time could tell.

THE END


End file.
